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Joseph Conrad in the Light of Postcolonialism

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Joseph Conrad in the Light of Postcolonialism Yearbook of Conrad Studies (Poland) Vol. VII 2012, pp. 97–112 doi:10.4467/20843941YC.12.005.0694 JOSEPH CONRAD IN THE LIGHT OF POSTCOLONIALISM Daniel Vogel State Higher Vocational School in Racibórz Abstract: This article consists of two parts. The fi rst part presents the main concepts and facts con- nected with the development of postcolonial studies as a relatively new academic discipline, while the second part discusses Conrad’s two ‘African’ works, which — containing as they do an im- plicit critique of colonialism and imperialism — are now seen as being one of the very fi rst ‘post- colonial’ books. Over the last thirty years, postcolonial studies have not only gained the status of an academic discipline, but have become one of the main schools of literary criticism. The postcolo- nial approach is also critical towards those systems of presenting the world that have existed for decades and have thus come to be regarded as being natural; it undermines their position and shows that they are nothing but ideological discourses which have been created by world empires. To a great extent, postcolonial theory has relied on existing theories for its methodology and terminol- ogy. On the one hand it relies on Marxism, while on the other it leans towards poststructuralism and postmodernism. Postcolonial theory also participates in discussions concerning the position of the Other (Spivak). As well as outlining the framework of postcolonial theory, it is important that we defi ne such terms as ‘colonial’ and ‘postcolonial’ literature. In her book entitled Colonial and Postcolonial Fiction (1995), Elleke Boehmer suggests limiting the fi eld of research in order to concentrate on the modern colonial empires that have emerged over the last four or fi ve centuries, laying particular emphasis on the British Empire, as it was here that the greatest textualization of the idea of colonial expansion took place. The terms ‘colonial’ and ‘post-colonial’ are understood differently in The Empire Writes Back (1989), whose authors (Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffi ths and Helen Tiffi n) suggest that the the term ‘post-colonial’ should refer to all cultures affected by impe- rial expansion — from the beginnings of colonization to the present day — arguing that the expan- sion of colonial empires in previous centuries exerted a considerable infl uence on historical pro- cesses that have lasted down to our own times. Because these defi nitions of post(-)colonial literature do not encompass such phenomena as the literatures of multicultural metropolies or literatures go- ing beyond the realm of the English language or beyond the literature of British or French colonial- ism, critics now often prefer to use expressions such as ‘literature in English’, ‘French-language literature’ or ‘literature of the Caribbean’ (which indicate the language or the region where a given type of literature has emerged) instead of the term ‘postcolonial literature’. Most contemporary scholars see Conrad as being one of the fi rst postcolonial writers — someone who criticized the ruthless colonial expansion of European empires and the concept of the “White Man’s Burden.” The works which attract particular attention are, of course, those which relate to Conrad’s African experience: An Outpost of Progress and the excellent, albeit overexploited novella Heart of Darkness, which — despite its having been mentioned and referred to so many times by postcolo- nial critics — still evokes a great deal of controversy. In 1975 the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe famously declared Joseph Conrad to be “a bloody racist.” Since the publication of Achebe’s An image of Africa many scholars have defended the position of Conrad as one of the chief opponents Publikacja objęta jest prawem autorskim. Wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone. Kopiowanie i rozpowszechnianie zabronione. Publikacja przeznaczona jedynie dla klientów indywidualnych. Zakaz rozpowszechniania i udostępniania w serwisach bibliotecznych. 98 Daniel Vogel of colonialism, stressing the fi ctitious nature of Heart of Darkness, its experimental narration and its metaphorical and symbolic character. This controversy has by no means been laid to rest. Keywords: An Outpost of Progress, colonial literature, Chinua Achebe, colonialism, Congo, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, postcolonial literature, postcolonial studies, postcolonialism, racism 1. POSTCOLONIALISM AND POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE It can be said without much fear of contradiction that, over the last thirty years, postcolonial studies have not only gained the status of an academic discipline, but have become one of the main schools of literary criticism. There are many reasons for this. Postcolonial studies are to a great extent interdisciplinary, hence they enrich the realms of literature, anthropology, culture, philosophy and history. The postcolonial approach is also critical towards those systems of presenting the world that have ex- isted for decades and have thus come to be regarded as being natural; it undermines their position and shows that they are nothing but ideological discourses which have been created by world empires. In addition, postcolonial studies themselves have undergone a continual process of self-introspection in order to ward off the two dan- gers of cryptocolonisation on the one hand, and — on the other — the marginaliza- tion that results from constant criticism of existing canons of knowledge. Postcolonial theory is by no means completely independent and it would be a mistake to claim that it was this discipline that originated discussions on the role of imperialism in academic discourse. It must be emphasized that — to a great extent — postcolonial theory relies on existing theories as far as methodology and terminol- ogy are concerned. On the one hand it relies on Marxism, while on the other it leans towards poststructuralism and postmodernism. Moreover, postcolonial theory par- ticipates in discussions concerning the position of the Other — establishing his or her identity and determining whether he or she is given a chance to speak in his or her own name (Spivak).1 In the introduction to her book on postcolonial theory,2 Leela Gandhi writes that thanks to its current approach, the discipline meets the needs of Western humanities, as it aims at reforming the intellectual and epistemological ex- clusions of Western academia and makes it possible for non-Western critics to present their own cultural legacy as certain knowledge (10). After a presence of thirty years, however, postcolonial theory is still diffi cult to defi ne. It would therefore be useful at the beginning of this article to look at some facts connected with the development of this discipline over the last few decades. As far as the Marxist approach is concerned, postcolonial theory owes a lot to a group of scholars who emerged at the beginning of the 1980s and are known as the 1 Gayatri Spivak. Can the Subaltern Speak? [In:] The Post-Colonial Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffi ths and Helen Tiffi n. London: Routledge, 1995, pp. 24–28. 2 Leela Gandhi. Postcolonial Theory. A Critical Introduction. St. Leonards (Australia): Allen & Unwin, 1998. Publikacja objęta jest prawem autorskim. Wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone. Kopiowanie i rozpowszechnianie zabronione. Publikacja przeznaczona jedynie dla klientów indywidualnych. Zakaz rozpowszechniania i udostępniania w serwisach bibliotecznych. Joseph Conrad in the light of postcolonialism 99 Subaltern Studies Group (SSG). This school of criticism includes among its numbers scholars such as Ranajit Guha, Partha Chatterjee, Gyanendra Pandey and Dipesh Chakrabarty, who use the term ‘subaltern’ to refer to all groups of people who are repressed by a dominant power (workers, peasants, women and the indigenous peo- ple colonized by Western Empires). Over the last ten years they have turned their attention to the concept of community, which is a source of resistance against the current dominant power, even though it may itself be a source of class, caste or gen- der oppression. Members of the SSG also criticize the modernist project of the hege- monic nation — based on the idea of progress and secular rationalism — opting in- stead for fragmented societies founded on local traditions. One of the most interesting projects of the SSG has been the idea of “Provincializing Europe” put forward by Dipesh Chakrabarty in a book published in 2000 (Provincializing Europe. Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference), in which he tries to analyse the true nature of the discourse of academic history. Chakrabarty shows that this discourse recognizes only one subject — ‘Europe’ — which has dom- inated and silenced all other existing histories: It is that insofar as the academic discourse of history — that is, “history” as a discourse pro- duced at the institutional site of the university is concerned — “Europe” remains the sovereign, theoretical subject of all histories, including the ones we call “Indian,” “Chinese,” “Kenyan” and so on. There is a peculiar way in which all these other histories tend to become variations on a master narrative that could be called “the history of Europe.” (27) History produced by ‘Europe’ has claimed to be an unbiased, objective discipline based purely on the analysis of facts. It has told stories which always present the Old Continent in an idealised manner. However, these stories — as Chakrabarty observes — have been nothing but fi ction delivered to the colonized nations in order to natural- ize the process of European dominance. Chakrabarty does
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